Falmouth to be Run One Week Later Starting Next Year

7-miler will be run third Sunday in August to extend tourist season.

The 2014 Falmouth Road Race will be run on August 17, one week later in the month than has been the case for the Cape Cod 7-miler for the past several years.

As we reported last week, the race was asked by town officials to consider moving race day back a week so that local businesses would get the economic benefits of the race later in the summer tourist season. Almost 13,000 runners, plus friends and family, come to Cape Cod for the race.

Last week the race sent a survey to runners and others with an interest in the race, and sought opinions on its social media platforms. According to race officials, 80 percent of respondents said that holding the race one week later wouldn't affect their decision to participate.

The Falmouth Road Race was first run on a Wednesday—August 15, 1973—the birthday of founder Tommy Leonard. It was then moved to the third week in August, and then forward again.

The change in date could cause minor complications for some of the race's elite runners. In recent years, many pros have run the Beach to Beacon 10-K in Cape Elizabeth, Maine on the first Saturday in August, and then run Falmouth eight days later. Beach to Beacon and Falmouth house elites in the homes of locals; it's not uncommon for runners to stay with their Maine host families for a few days after Beach to Beacon before traveling down the Atlantic coast to the Falmouth race. That tradition will likely end after this year.